


Re-Education

by orphan_account



Category: Night Vale - Fandom, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Cecil is cute, M/M, carlos is cute, cecilos - Freeform, fluff fluff fluff, general cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Carlos and Cecil both find themselves in the abandoned mine shaft for re-education. Carlos is there because of his outlandish ideas about mountains. Cecil talked about Carlos too much on the radio (but really, that HAIR).





	

**Author's Note:**

> Pre-episode 27. Carlos is a nerd.  
> I wrote this on my phone without my Beta and without any formatting, so I have no idea how it looks on a computer.  
> ~Canneberge

Carlos came to in a cave that smelled like sweat and stale urine. There was another smell, too, like the time his mother had forgotten she was thawing beef and left it in the sun all day. The urge to gag was overwhelming, but he forced himself to stay calm. Just because he didn't know where he was (or why he was there) didn't mean he couldn't look at this scientifically.  
The first order of business was to determine if he was truly alone in the darkness. He made an attempt to stand up, and stepped on something squashy, which yelped. 

Okay. So he wasn't alone, then.

There was a shuffling noise from the yelper, and Carlos felt them stand up.  
"Hello?" He whispered, hoping against hope that this other person was friendly.  
"Carlos?" Came the reply. "It's me, Cecil." Carlos nearly fell back over.  
"Cecil?! Do you have a light?"  
"Well... Sometimes my tattoos glow. But it's usually only when I'm happy. Or excited. And, um, you just stepped on my arm. So it might not... Um... Hold on..." Carlos felt the form next to him tense up in concentration. Briefly, a lavender-coloured light illuminated the pale man in front of him, but it flickered and went out almost instantly.  
"I'm sorry! I'm too worried, I can't get it to work! Maybe if..." The radio host trailed off again, and silence enveloped them for a split second, before-- Cecil was holding Carlos' hand. Carlos let out a strangled screech, prompting the other man to apologize profusely.  
"I'm sorry! It's just me! I probably should have warned you..." Carlos could feel his cheeks burning, and was glad for his dark tan when the lavender light flared on again, much stronger this time. It was bright enough that Carlos could see the walls of the cave (which was actually more like a tunnel), as well as Cecil's earnest, pale face.  
"Carlos? What do we do?" Carlos realized he had been staring, and he gave the tunnel a hasty once-over.  
"Well, it looks like there's some sort of a hatch, or, um, a door over there," (he attempted to use his left hand to point, and ended up dragging Cecil's hand with it) "But, uh, it's highly unlikely that it's weak enough for us to break through. Whoever put us here probably thought of that..."  
Cecil nodded sagely.  
"It was probably the City Council. Whenever someone does something they really don't like, they put 'em here for re-education."  
"Re... Education?"  
"Yep! They'll probably come get us in a couple of weeks. Maybe not, though." Cecil bit his lip nervously, and Carlos felt himself blushing again.  
"OKAY," he said, slightly too loudly, "We should probably walk away from the entrance. That's our best bet."  
Cecil nodded trustingly, and began to cheerfully drag Carlos down the rocky corridor. With characteristic pep, he began to interrogate the scientist on how he had ended up in the "re-education facility," whether he thought it was starting to smell better already, and how long he thought they would have to walk. Carlos replied as minimally as possible, letting the man chatter, until he realized that the light from Cecil's tattoos was starting to fade. He'd probably forgotten they were still holding hands, though Carlos was unsure how, since it was all he had been able to think about for the last twenty minutes. He swung their joined arms, and the chatter faltered momentarily, but the light surged back at full force. Carlos breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to focus on their very one-sided conversation.  
"Carlos? How much longer do you think we'll have to walk?"  
"Scientifically speaking, there should be out... Pretty soon?"  
Cecil looked at the scientist doubtfully, and the expression was so adorably sad that Carlos had to actively resist the urge to hug him. Only because he looked so scared. That was it. Not because Carlos's heart did that weird flippy thing every time he looked at Cecil's violet eyes. Just because they were both so totally alone in the world, and at the moment, they were alone in the dark and... And Carlos was fine with that. It didn't mean anything. He was just thrown off because of Cecil's blatant adoration, that was all. 

Yes. That was the scientific explanation. 

"Cecil. Do you trust me?"  
"With my life!" The response came much quicker and stronger than Carlos had expected.  
"Well, we're going to get out of here. But, um, when we do... It might be prudent if you didn't mention it on your show."

Cecil laughed, and Carlos's heart fluttered.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, there you have it! Make sure to ~subscribe~ for more toothache-inducing Night Vale fluffiness! (And maybe even a PLOT next time!)  
> ~Canneberge


End file.
